St. John's Virtual Coffee Hour

A place for communication - including feedback and comments - about what's going on at St. John's Lutheran Church in Sayville, NY. All entries, of course, should be made in Christian love.

About St. John's Lutheran Church in Sayville, NY

The family of Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Church is called, gathered and empowered by the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament to confess and proclaim the gospel and love of Jesus Christ to our congregation, community and world.

"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" - Romans 10:17

Topics or Questions for Discussion

If you have a new topic or question you would like to see posted for discussion and feedback, please e-mail Ray Keating at RKeat614@aol.com.

About Me

The Reverend Brian Noack is the senior pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church. This blog is a project of St. John's Board of Church Life. St. John’s is located at 48 Greene Avenue in Sayville, and can be contacted at 631-589-3202.

The family of Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Church is called, gathered and empowered by the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament to confess and proclaim the gospel and love of Jesus Christ to our congregation, community and world.

"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" - Romans 10:17

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

From the Amazon.com description: “Warrior Monk revolves around a former CIA assassin, Stephen Grant, who has lived a far different, relatively quiet life as a parish pastor in recent years. However, a shooting at his church, an historic papal proposal, and threats to the Pope's life mean that Grant's former and current lives collide. Grant must tap the varied skills learned as a government agent, a theologian and a pastor not only to protect the Pope, but also to feel his way through a minefield of personal challenges.”

We will meet at church at 7:30 PM on Friday, March 18.

Buy the book, read it, and show up for the discussion! For more information, please talk with or contact Pastor Noack (stbnoack@aol.com), Ray Keating (Rkeat614@aol.com), or Jim Farrell (TaTaTuma@aol.com).

Monday, January 3, 2011

Equipping To Share - a workshop for everyday witnessing, offered by Lutheran Hour Ministries, will be held from 9AM – 2PM in the undercroft at no cost to you, including lunch.

Whether you are a life long Christian or not, this workshop will prepare you to share the hope you have in Christ. Learn to communicate Christ’s impact in your life to be a witness to His faithfulness. Sign up on the bulletin board outside the gym or call the church office to register by Jan 30th. See you there!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

247 people attended church on 10/24/10, 30 people chose to respond to the question of the week. The question was “What do you think is the best way for the church to receive input from its members about their opinions and thoughts about the future of our congregation?” More than one answer was allowed so all answers are represented below. Some of the possible answers included a suggestion box, survey, a specific meeting time once a month, small group meetings held at homes of members, email, and our blog.

6 All of the above ways are important8 Suggestion box6 Survey12 Email 1 Website3 Monthly meeting2 Blog3 Handouts at church services3 Small groups at homes 2 Congregational Meeting1 Mailings (but only for very important topics)1 Short survey at the coffee hour2 Periodic surveys to gauge mood and desire and reactions of members about a certain topic.

Some people included comments about various topics on this question. They are all included here.

It is important to provide timely feedback from a survey.

One person would appreciate more opportunities to speak with the pastor, suggested setting aside one day a month for a couple of hours where people could attend a “Meet the Pastor” style meeting.

One person didn’t like not having a seat at the 9am service due to the Sunday School taking up so many seats.

A member commented that even though we have meetings it is difficult to express feelings that may be met with opposition. This person believes the issue of our future-the property purchase, possible building, changes at 48 Greene Avenue, have created distinct, separate groups.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Of the 247 people who attended church on 10/17/10, we received 48 responses (2 through email) for the Question of the Week: “What brought you to Saint John’s and what keeps you here?”

Most people had more than one answer for each part of the question. All reasons to both parts of the question are accounted for in the responses below. The response to “What brought you to Saint John’s?”

9 Proximity to my home7 Sunday School/VBS/Youth Group program6 Desire for children to learn about God4 The pastor3 Preaching3 Children married here/Family members came here3 Felt comfortable or at home when I first came to this church3 Friends’ recommendation3 Brought as a child3 It is a LCMS church2 Married a Lutheran2 Pre-School2 The music1 To renew one’s faith1 To give thanks to God

The response to “What keeps you here (at Saint John’s)?”:

22 The people/friendships developed/fellowship15 The preaching10 Feel comfortable or at home in this church/”It’s my home”9 Sunday School/Youth Group/Children’s Activities9 The pastor8 The music program7 Church activities for members as well as community3 Formality of services2 Want children to have friends in church or to have a connection to the church1 Pre-School1 Church starts on time1 Christ centered church1 Worshipful atmosphere on Sundays

Of the 263 people who attended church the weekend of 10/10/10, 23 people responded to the Question of the Week, 19 in church and two through email.

Results:

According to the 23 who responded, our church’s role in the community is seen as preserving and communicating God’s word (8); as a safe haven (4); bringing people together (2); a child centered church (2); an example to the community of our Christian, Lutheran, and moral faith (3); an open door church (2); to help those in need; and offers space to outside groups (3). Several people mentioned more than one of the above roles in their answer, for the compilation process, we included the first role written. All roles are accounted for as mentioned.

It was also written that we should be warm and welcoming; less formal; be more about the Word of God; be an integral part of the our community and be able to respond to local needs as they arise; be known as the church of compassion; and there should be a connection between the outside groups (AA, Al-Anon, Nar-Anon, Basketball, Nursery programs) that come through our doors and what we are about as a church body.Three people wrote specifically that we could and should expand our food pantry ministry.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

FYI/Reminder: To comment on a posting, you only need to click on "Comments." Type in what you want to say, and then click the pull down menu and use whatever item applies to you. You only need to sign in this way if you are leaving a comment. Enjoy and let's hear from you!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

How many of us think about what it means to specifically be a Lutheran?

There are some wonderful resources from Concordia Publishing House that can help to more deeply explore Lutheranism. Two great recent publications are The Lutheran Study Bible and Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord.

Recently, the membership of St. John's voted to purchase 3.8 acres of land in Sayville. While some options were presented in regards to what we should do with the land, nothing has been decided as of yet. What do you think we should do with the land?